Jump to content

Flora Respawn Fix by bluedanieru


Valtarien

Recommended Posts

Flora Respawn Fix by bluedanieru

What it does:

You've hit this bug, even if you don't know it. Every time you went to a place after the cell was supposed to reset, and wondered "hey why haven't those plants respawned yet?" it's this bug. When you go to Solitude and you see those Nightshade there and then you go grab a cup of coffee and come back and restart the game and they're gone, it's this bug. FloraRespawnFix.esp fixes this bug.

See, since the 1.3 patch there has been a bug in the Skyrim engine that it can't 'remember' that plants, mushrooms, nests, and some salmon have respawned, after you reload a save. So you might go to a place again, see that everything is as it should be (i.e. has respawned), then if you save and reload... poof! it's gone. You have to wait for the cell to reset again. You might not notice it unless you look for it, but I've seen it explained as "oh plants take 30 days to respawn" (they don't, they would normally respawn when the cell they're in resets - like anything else), or that certain plants just don't respawn (they all should), or whatever. Nope, bug. Most players have just gotten used to it.

Well, they don't have to get used to it anymore. This mod can't directly fix Skyrim.exe, but it can alter how these flora and fauna are processed by the executable, such that they are no longer affected by the bug.

Flora Respawn Fix thread on the Bethesda forum site

Installation:

Place the contents of the archive in your Skyrim/Data directory. Works with Nexus Mod Manager.

Compatibility:

Anything that changes the flora entries in Skyrim.esm isn't compatible. Anything that changes any of the flora objects in the world isn't compatible (although, the placement fixes from the Unofficial Patch have been merged into this mod - just load this after USKP).

Harvest Overhaul is not compatible by default, but compatibility patches are available. To install, load all Harvest Overhaul esp files first, followed by the Flora Respawn Fix esp files. Use the Harvest Overhaul compatible plugins INSTEAD of the main plugins.

Convenient Horses is compatible, but you won't be able to harvest things on horseback unless you also install the compatibility patch (so install it). Be sure to load IN EXACTLY THIS ORDER: FloraRespawnFix.esp, Convenient Horses.esp, FrfChPatch.esp. (You can load other mods in between them, but be sure FRF loads BEFORE CH, and the patch loads after both of them. If you complain the patch breaks your game and I find you didn't follow these instructions, I will hunt you down and drink your blood.)

Thanks to Xubarku for the Harvest Overhaul-compatible versions of the fix.

FAQ:

Q: Will this mod wreck my save, increase file size to absurd levels, hurt performance, and otherwise ruin my day?
A: Probably not, although some caution is required. Once you start using this mod, it is unwise to uninstall and continue on after that. At a minimum, all the plants you have harvested will vanish from the game, never to return. Mushrooms, nests, and some salmon may also display odd behavior. This mod alters in a very fundamental way every plant object in the game. As such, you should play around with this mod a bit, make sure it's right for you, then commit to using it for the rest of that game (I can't imagine why you wouldn't). If not, revert to a save from before you started using this.

Q: Okay great but what about performance?
A: Oh, right. My testing has shown no performance impact in using this mod, that I can tell (I have a good computer, but it is not the latest and greatest by any stretch). Your save size will increase by approximately 5KB for each flora or fauna you harvest until that object respawns at which point the game will reclaim the space. This could become noticable if you harvest a lot of things in a short period of time.

Q: Will this mod fix stuff I've already harvested?
A: YES, but you have to help it do that a bit. When you reenter an area and you see that everything has respawned, HARVEST IT ALL WITHOUT RELOADING A SAVE. Only when you're sure you've gotten everything will it be safe to save your game and exit. The script that fixes things won't kick off until you harvest the item, so if you save and reload before that, Skyrim.exe is going to forget it respawned.

History:

1.0 - Initial release

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

I've been using this mod for a loooong time now.

 

Despite its warnings about incompatibilities, I've had 0 (zero) issues running it with various STEP installs (performance, core, extended, 100% full install with all hi-res options picked, etc).

 

There's really no reason why this shouldn't be included in STEP as it does fix a bug which people don't realize exists.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm gonna blabber incoherently until more people acknowledge this fix, as it's about as crucial as most other fixes.

 

My wording was pretty poor (or incomplete, rather): It fixes a bug which people don't realize exists. And when you do install this fix, you're suddenly made aware of just how much that bug was affecting things.

 

The bug was introduced in one of the Skyrim patches. So it's not some un-lore-friendly thing.

 

Or has the USKP addressed this one?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The problem may lie in the fix itself. From one of the papyrus log errors (not really one of those bad type of ones from what I can tell) I used to get I think he applies a script which ensures something respawns regardless of whether you enter a cell which means things in that cell respawn regardless of you resetting the timer by being/going there.

 

In a way, that could be considered a bit cheat-y. But then again, do flowers in real life stop blooming just because you keep entering the garden every day?

 

edit: incoherent blabbering above etc etc etc :whistling:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am sort of astonished at how few endorsements this mod has. I too have been using it for about six months now and it makes a huge improvement to the game and has not caused any problems or conflicts for me whatsoever. It's really a fantastic fix. As mentioned above, you don't really realize how severe a problem the lack of floral respawn really is until you install this mod. It's like night and day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Think it is mainly because people do not notice it at all... since flowers do respawn... eventually.

Would be interesting to hear what the unofficial patch team had to say about it though.

 

But regardless I do not think I am going to use it since.... I do not have an issue with the way flora operates atm.

Also had a mod for oblivion that actually reduced the respawn rate of flora to like a month or so... since I got tired of how easy it was to go harvest half the forest, and get alchemy 100 in 2 days.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The respawn rate is normally controlled by cell respawn rates. So the default would be 10 days for an uncleared cell, or 30 days for a cleared cell. This does sort of work as intended, as everything will respawn when you enter a cell the first time after the timer has expired.

 

The bug is that, once you have harvested any plant, from that point forward, it will forever be invisibly marked as harvested by the game. Even when it respawns in a cell that you haven't been in for awhile, the game will still -think- it is harvested if you save the game and return to that cell. Anytime you save and reload your game, ALL the plants that have ever been marked as harvested in this way will disappear from the game.

 

So lets say I like to walk from Whiterun to Windhelm a lot, and I harvest many of the plants on the road. Over time, I've harvested just about every one of them at one time or another. Let's say I spend a week or two in Markarth (enough to allow the respawn timer to turn over on that road), then I return to the Whiterun area. I decide to walk from Whiterun to Windhelm, but I'm not feeling like harvesting plants today, because I'm in a hurry (gotta go to work!), so I ignore them. I save the game in Windhelm. When I get home from work, I reload my save, and walk back to Whiterun. This time I want to harvest those plants. But now they're all gone! The road that was -- a few (game-time) minutes ago -- flourishing with flora is now completely bare. I will have to wait for the entire respawn timer to reset again before those plants will reappear.

 

This is also very noticeable in cities, as people tend to save and reload a lot in cities. So if you harvest the many plants around Whiterun, whenever you save and reload in Whiterun, every plant you've ever harvested in the city will be gone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

on a different, but not unrelated, topic, i have this bug that is very similar:

 

walk into alchemy shop

buy most of the ingredients stock

realize i forgot to drink a *fortify barter* potion

reload the autosave that was just created when i entered the shop

try to re-buy the same ingredients, but...

the vendor's stock is almost, if not completely, depleted

(as if all the ingredients i previously purchased were removed from the vendor inventory, even though i loaded a save from immediately before i made my first purchase attempt)

 

this is similar because it has to do with reloading saves, and re-spawning items/objects


Why is this mod changing weather in some cells?

hmmm. no idea. have you looked in t5e?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Guidelines, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Use.